Science & technology

A man in Hong Kong has been found to have a strain of hepatitis E that had only been seen previously in rats, researchers said Friday. While rats have passed on several other illnesses to people, this was the first discovery in humans of the rat variation of hepatitis E, …

Scientists said on Wednesday that they have finally solved the riddle of the world’s largest bird. A study released on Wednesday by British scientists suggested that one species of elephant bird was even larger than previously thought, with a specimen weighing an estimated 860 kg — about the same as …

Registered firms are only dismantling and not processing trash, says report Many of India’s electronic-waste (e-waste) recyclers aren’t recycling waste at all. While some are storing it in hazardous conditions, others don’t even have the capacity to handle such waste, says a new report prepared by the Union Environment Ministry. …

Majority judgment in Aadhaar case silent on erasing Though the majority opinion in the Aadhaar verdict is silent on deleting biometric data already collected by phone companies, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud’s direction to do so will open a Pandora’s box, if implemented. The Constitution Bench on Wednesday was unanimous in declaring …

A clean-shaven face may not be necessary for pilots to ensure safety during in-flight emergencies, according to scientists who found that those who sport a full beard can also properly seal on an oxygen mask. Several airlines require pilots to have a clean-shaven face as it is believed to be …

Scientists say they have developed aStar Trek-inspired device that could help make sophisticated medical diagnostics. The ‘multicorder’ created by researchers from the University of Glasgow takes inspiration from Star Trek ’s famous tricorder device, which the show’s medics use to make quick and accurate diagnosis. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-life/star-trek-inspired-diagnostic-device-developed/article25032803.ece

Five years after he was paralysed in a snowmobile accident, a man in the U.S. has learned to walk again, aided by an electrical implant. A team of doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota said the man, using a front-wheeled walker, was able to cover the equivalent of the …

Scientists said on Monday they had succeeded for the first time in wiping out an entire population of malaria-carrying mosquitoes in the lab using a gene editing tool to programme their extinction. So-called gene drive technology works by forcing evolution’s hand, ensuring that an engineered trait is passed down to …

MitraClip, inserted into the heart, sharply reduces death rates in patients: study For people with severe heart failure, even mundane tasks can be extraordinarily difficult. With blood flow impeded throughout their bodies, patients may become breathless simply walking across a room or up stairs. Some must sleep sitting up to …

In a first, scientists have successfully grown functional version of the human food pipe using stem cells, paving the way for new ways to study and test drugs against gut disorders. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell , shows how human oesophageal tissue could be grown entirely …